Many high technology weapons are delivered at high velocity by aircraft, rockets or artillery. A number of these are intelligent precision weapons which utilize fragile antennas or payload which must be protected against rain until the passage of the weapon has reduced the velocity of the weapon through the air to a level the antenna can tolerate. Typically these antennas cannot function if there is any metal or other material that attenuates electromagnetic radiation between the antenna and the target to be sensed. This requires a protective cover which can withstand the high velocity environment with rapid rotation along with vibration and buffeting, which will remain in place as a protective shield for the antenna but which can be jettisoned reliably immediately prior to the antenna use.
The requirements of such a cover are the capabilities to survive high launch acceleration, high spin rates, impact air loading up to 85 pounds per square inch, explosive gases, side loading from weapon wobble and ejection from a carrier, multi-Mach level velocity, and rain drop impacts. The cover system must provide a jettison feature which functions at reduced air speeds of around 350 feet per second. Since the cover is in a sense parasitic as regards to the primary function of the munition, the protective cover along with its jettison and release mechanisms must be small, light weight and inexpensive. There are no existing devices which can serve as antenna or payload protective covers and which are jettisoned prior to actuating the system.